Japanese MPs deny sex slavery

AN AUSTRALIAN woman forced into sex slavery in World War II says
she's trembling with anger at a Japanese Government advertisement
denying the war-time atrocities.

Adelaide resident Jan Ruff-O'Herne says she has lost all respect
for the Japanese Government following the advertisement which
appeared in yesterday's Washington Post newspaper.

The advertisement, signed by 44 members of Japan's parliament,
seeks to share "the truth with the American people" about the
200,000 "comfort women" who were driven into brothels during
WWII.

"No historical document has ever been found by historians or
research organisations that positively demonstrates that women were
forced against their will into prostitution by the Japanese army,"
the ad said under the title, in bold letters, "THE FACTS".

Ms Ruff-O'Herne said she was appalled by the advertisement. "My
esteem for the Japanese Government has completely gone down the
drain," she said. "It's absolutely appalling."

The 84-year-old Adelaide woman travelled to Washington DC in
February to speak before a US House of Representatives hearing on
Protecting the Human Rights of "comfort women".

The advertisement says: "The ianfu (comfort women) who were
embedded with the Japanese army were not, as is commonly reported,
'sex slaves'. They were working under a system of licensed
prostitution that was commonplace around the world at the
time."

It adds that many of the women made more money than field
officers "and even generals".

The ad acknowledges that there were "breakdowns in discipline".
"Criticism for events that actually occurred must be humbly
embraced," it says.

"But apologies over unfounded slander and defamation will not
only give the public an erroneous impression of historical reality
but could negatively affect the friendship between the US and
Japan."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sparked controversy in March
by saying there was no evidence the imperial army directly coerced
thousands of "comfort women" into brothels across Asia during World
War II.

This week conservative Japanese MPs urged China to remove
photographs and exhibits from museums that they claim distort the
truth about Tokyo's actions before and during World War II. The
campaign coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing
Massacre in which Beijing says Japanese soldiers slaughtered
hundreds of thousands of Chinese.